Our reader success story to South Florida comes from Laura. Here is her story:

 

Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Points and Miles

We were fortunate to trade below-freezing temperatures in the Midwest for much warmer and mostly sunny weather in Southern Florida this winter.  Our family of four flew out of Springfield, Missouri to Fort Lauderdale via Atlanta using Delta miles (23,800 miles per ticket roundtrip).  

We started with one night at a Hilton DoubleTree property not far from the Fort Lauderdale Airport. The Bahia Mar Fort Lauderdale Beach was probably the best surprise of the trip.  It was 65k Hilton points per night—a beachfront property, and we had an oceanview room. 

The room itself was clean (but not very big) and had two double beds.  But we enjoyed the amenities included at no cost with this points stay, which was great.  There was beach access via walkway, a heated pool, bikes, and kids ate breakfast free, which made breakfast for all of us free once we used our Hilton Diamond food and beverage credit. 

 

 

We did pay for parking ($50/night). The Bahia Mar is located within walking distance of the Jungle Queen cruise, and even though checkout is at 11 a.m., the hotel kindly let us continue parking until 4 p.m. at no extra cost and stored our bags until we returned from the sightseeing cruise. They also were fine with us using the pool past checkout.

 

Coral Gables, Florida

From Fort Lauderdale, we ventured south to Coral Gables and stayed two nights at the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables.  Special shoutout to fellow TMS mom Shannon who shared a Guest of Honor award with our family! 

I utilized Pam’s email template to send to our hotels before the trip, and the hotel confirmed we would be upgraded to a one-bedroom luxury suite, which was 800+ square feet and had lots of space for our family! The only disappointment was that we hoped for a separate bedroom area from the living room. Not all one-bedroom suites actually have a dividing door between the bedroom and the living area. You might ask specifically for that if it’s important to you. 

The heated pool is a beautiful place to hang out, and our family’s favorite part of this hotel was the buffet breakfast at Two Sisters restaurant. It was incredible. Thanks to the Guest of Honor benefit, we enjoyed a complimentary breakfast buffet for two adults and two kids on both days. They also provided a code at the front desk for complimentary valet parking. 

 

 

 

Coral Gables has restaurants, but it wasn’t too hard to drive to Miami for more choices during our stay, so we spent time in both places. In both Miami and Fort Lauderdale, we utilized the reciprocal benefits from our local science museum and botanical garden to visit for free with our family pass.  Both visits would otherwise have been over $100 each, so we loved using those benefits across the country!

 

 

Key Largo

We continued south towards Key Largo.  We stopped at the Everglades National Park for a tour with a park guide.  On the way, don’t miss stopping for fruit smoothies at Robert is Here in Homestead, FL. 

 

 

In Key Largo, we stayed two nights at Baker’s Cay Resort using Hilton free-night certificates.  This was one of our favorite resorts that we have experienced as a family. 

The landscaping was beautiful and tropical, and the closest we have come in the continental US to feeling like we were back in Maui.  I emailed ahead of time but did not get confirmation about an upgrade, so I called the morning of our check-in.  They let me know I would have the option to pay $60/night to upgrade our room to a two-bedroom family suite, and we were glad to do this. 

 

 

 

They recognized my daughter’s birthday with a birthday banner and slice of key lime pie, and she thought that was the best.  There is a posted schedule of activities throughout the week, and we enjoyed several while we were there: arts and crafts for the kids, a pineapple scavenger hunt with a prize at the end, and a painting night my daughter and I attended.  And we also all enjoyed the heated pools and relaxing in the beach areas.

There were some really nice little spots throughout the property to curl up and read, nap on a hammock, and sit by the ocean waves.  My husband and I would like to come back here, just the two of us, for a relaxing couples trip.  It was also easy to get around Key Largo from this resort, which meant no hassle to find offsite dining options. 

 

 

We ended up eating at nearby restaurants for breakfast and lunch and using our food and beverage credits for dinner. We enjoyed half-off tacos for Taco Tuesday, and the other night, we had pizza delivered to our room from the restaurant on the property. For us, Baker’s Cay was a great use of our free-night certificates, and I would highly recommend checking it out if you have been considering a trip to South Florida.

 

Key West

Finally, we drove through the rest of the Florida Keys to Key West, making some interesting stops along the way. My kids enjoyed visiting the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key, Florida. You can purchase tickets ahead of time online for a discount. Key West was interesting but not our favorite family destination. 

 

 

We stayed two nights at the Casa Marina Resort, using Hilton free-night certificates again.  Casa Marina is next to The Reach, another Hilton property, both part of their Curio Collection.  The Casa Marina has an interesting history and is over 100 years old. (At one point, it used to be a Waldorf Astoria.)

 

 

It has a beach area and is very pretty. However, I think our family liked The Reach’s atmosphere a little better—less traditional, more South Florida-like, and both very nice. We could not use our Free Night Certificates at The Reach for our dates, but I would have gone there if we could. 

From the Casa Marina, we walked into town (over a mile, but it was fun to walk through neighborhoods), visited the Hemingway House, saw the Butterfly Conservatory, went to the Southernmost Point in the USA marker, and had dinner on Duval Street. We took a Lyft back to our hotel instead of the longer walk after dark.   

The next day, we had an early morning Delta flight home from Key West to Springfield, MO, with a quick stop in Atlanta, Georgia. We are always thankful for a trip to look forward to during the colder months, and this one was definitely made possible thanks to points and miles and what I’ve learned through the Travel Mom Squad and community! We are grateful and looking forward to our next family adventure!

 

Thanks, Laura for your reader success story to South Florida! It sounds delightful and definitely warmer than the weather in Missouri!

 

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